The Princess and the Hatter
by ChippedCupsandMagicHats
Summary: "With all due respect, there's more to being a princess than having royal blood." When Ana Reylee heard a croak in the middle of the woods she didn't realize how wonderfully mad her life would become because of it.
1. Chapter 1: The Frog

**Just a story I came up with because Jefferson needs a love interest. I hope you enjoy it!**

**Note: Each line break indicates a switch between our world and the Enchanted Forest.**

* * *

Ana knelt by the creek and cautiously placed her palm in the rushing water. She gave a sigh of relief as the cool water engulfed her hand. It was a welcome change from the heat of summer.

She took a step back and began to remove her clothing until she was wearing nothing but her long undergarments. With a quick glance around to make sure she was alone she began to wade into the water. She was ankle deep when…

_ Ribbit._

Startled, Ana jumped up and succeeded in splashing herself. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if perhaps she had just imagined it. They didn't have many frogs in this part of the creek, and those they did have were quickly killed off by hunters looking to make a quick dime. Because of this she had only seen a live frog once in her life when her friend Tom had caught one and brought it home to tease her with.

She dismissed it for a moment before she heard it again, only louder this time. Curiosity got the best of her as she walked out of the water and began to search for the source of the noise. A little distance off she found what appeared to be a large overcoat in a heap on the forest floor. She crept carefully toward it, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She leapt back as lump began to move underneath it. She grabbed a nearby stick and proceeded to approach the strange bundle. When she was close enough Ana used the stick to lift part of it and peer underneath it. As she lifted it higher the culprit who had interrupted her bath hopped into the light.

She dropped the stick upon sight of the frog, which caused the creature to look up at her with what appeared to be inquisitiveness. Suddenly feeling slightly self-conscious she grabbed the overcoat and covered herself with it before addressing her intruder.

"What?" She asked as it continued to stare at her, its head tilted slightly to the left. "Never seen a girl before have you?" The amphibian simply blinked at her in response. "You know it's not polite to stare."

_Ribbit._

"What were you doing under this coat anyway?"

_That's it Ana, _she thought to herself. _Keep talking to the frog. Maybe if you're lucky the owner of the jacket will return and report you for insanity._

Still, she couldn't bring herself to turn away from the animal and found herself taking a seat on a nearby log to continue the conversation.

"Perhaps it's your coat," she said giggling slightly to herself. "You know there are stories of girls who have kissed frogs and they've turned into handsome princes who carried them off to their happily ever after."

Upon hear that the frog took a couple hops toward her.

"You don't believe those stories do you?"

He croaked with what almost seemed like urgency.

"Oh what do you know, you're a frog."

_Ribbit._

"You are just a frog, aren't you?" Ana felt silly as she heard the doubt that slipped into her voice.

_Ribbit._

"Alright, let's try it this way. Blink once if you're a frog, twice if you're more than that." She realized how ridiculous that plan was as soon as she heard it, but figured it was worth a shot. She had trouble containing her surprise as he flutter his eyelids closed at her two times.

Groaning she buried her face in her hands, feeling absolutely absurd. She looked back up at her amphibian guest. "Let me guess you want me to kiss you now don't you?" Two more blinks. "Ugh fine, but if this doesn't work, we tell no one, ok?" He croaked in agreement.

Cringing slightly, she bent down and picked him up by the torso. "Here we go," she muttered before pinching her eyes shut and softly pressing her lips against his. When she opened them again she was face to face with a grown man.

She gave a startled cry and jumped back clutching the black jacket even tighter against herself. "You-You-You're…"

"Handsome, amazing, a good kisser?" He finished arrogantly.

"Human," Ana corrected.

"Bit crude, but I'll take it. The names Jefferson," He said and extended his hand to shake. Ana didn't move however, refusing to relinquish her grip on the one thing protecting her decency. When Jefferson realized that he took a step back and raised his hands in understanding before turning his back to her. Taking advantage of the privacy she set the coat aside before pulling her dress back on. Once she was clothed she informed him that he could turn back around.

"Hm, I must say I liked you're outfit better before. But, you did help me so I believe a thank you is in order. Now, I don't believe I caught you're name your highness," Jefferson stated, his eyebrow cocked in question.

Ana scoffed at him. "Your highness? What do you think I am, a princess?"

"Well you must be," he said matter-of-factly. "How else could you have broken my curse?"

"Listen, I don't know how I broke your curse, but I most certainly am not royalty."

Jefferson rolled his eyes and gave a sigh of something akin to frustration. "With all due respect, there is more to being a princess than having royal blood. Now, do you have a name or should I just continue to call you your highness?" His aura of charm had started to fade out of annoyance but Ana could tell he was still trying his hardest to remain polite.

"My names Diana, but I prefer Ana," she replied.

"Very well Ana. I am in your debt," he said sincerely, giving her a small bow of gratitude. "Now if you'll excuse me," he turned and began raking through the bushes in search of something. Ana watched him with interest as he cursed in frustration. After a moment he spun back on his heel to face her. "You didn't happen to find a hat did you?"

She furrowed her brow in confusion. "No, why?"

"Damn it," he swore. "Regina must have taken it."

"Regina? You mean the queen? Is she the one who turned you into a frog?"

"Yes," he answered. "Now she's gone and stole my hat."

"It's just a hat," Ana said, not understanding what the big deal was.

Jefferson glared at her. "It is not just a hat. It is much more than that, and could be dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands." Clearly angered, he walked over and snatched his overcoat before saying to her, "Thanks for your help princess, but I'll take it from here," and spinning around to leave.

"You're leaving?" She asked, feeling stupidly disappointed. She wasn't sure what had expected to happen but she knew it wasn't this.

"Well yes. I thanked you, what more do you want?" He asked, turning around shooting his eyebrows up at her.

"I…" She hesitated, not sure how to respond. Jefferson tapped his foot impatiently. "I want to come with you," she settled.

He laughed. "A silly girl like you? Why on earth want to leave your undoubtedly nice home to accompany a wanderer like me?"

Ana fumed at his assumptions about her life. "I can help you, and considering how when I found you you were amphibious I'm guessing you could use it."

He scowled at her but she could tell he saw her point. "Very well. But I'm not waiting around while you say your goodbyes. Either you leave with me now or not at all."

Since Ana doubted the Tafani's would even notice her absence she didn't hesitate to accept. Instead she found herself grinning and walking off in the direction he had been headed before turning back to face him and asking, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Jefferson began to wonder if he'd come to regret it as he followed her into the woods.

* * *

Ana sat in her little car staring at the map in her hands as the storm continued to rage on outside. After days of travel she had found herself in the middle of Maine with no place to go. She had bought the map to help her choose her destination. She found herself oddly drawn to one town in particular. She gave it one last bit of thought before tossing the paper on to the passenger's seat and turning the key in the ignition. As she pulled out onto the empty road she muttered to herself, "Storybrooke here I come."


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to Storybrooke

**I should probably mention that the events in Storybrooke are taking place around the time of "The Queen of Hearts" and the events in the Enchanted Forest are from just after "The Doctor". Please review and tell me what you think!**

Ana pulled up in front of a dated building labeled as a bed and breakfast and got out of her little blue Prius. There wasn't a soul on the streets. It had been late when she left, and even though she had driven nonstop it was about 3 am by the time she saw the welcome sign on the edge of the little town. The gas station coffee and pop music had kept her awake but she could feel the exhaustion weighing on her as she walked through the front door of the building. She found the check-in desk to be empty, the owner no doubt happily asleep somewhere. Still, she wanted to sleep in a bed that night so she wasn't giving up that easily.

"Hello?" She called into the night. The echo was met with silence. She tried again. "Anyone there?"

This time she heard rustling noises coming from a room in the back. After a minute or so an elderly women came shuffling out of the darkness, shotgun in hand. Ana eyes widen in fear and she threw her arms up in surrender.

"Who goes there?" The woman asked, weapon locked and loaded.

"My name is Diana Reylee, I just wanted to rent a room for the night," she replied. She had been in a lot of odd situations before but this one definitely made the top ten.

"Oh," the lady replied, lowering her gun. "Why didn't you say so? Here, sign in." She went behind the desk and pulled out a large book. Ana went ahead and opened it to the front page and discovered that there were only 3 entries. She filled out the line underneath the third one, very aware of the innkeeper's gaze as it watched her the whole time. Once she had finished the woman snapped the book shut and handed her a key. "Up the stairs, first door on your left, have a good night." When she was satisfied that Ana understood she turned and walked away, leaving her to her own devices.

Slightly off put by the women's odd behavior, Ana threw a curious glance at the door the she had just disappeared behind before heading up to her room. She figured she would just get her bag in the morning, as she was currently too tired to care.

* * *

"So what exactly is your plan?"

Ana and Jefferson had been trekking through the forest for some time now and she still hadn't the faintest clue of where they were going. She was grateful for the fact that she had opted to wear her work boots that day, but they only did so much to help with the blisters she could feel being rubbed into her feet. Even so she was careful to keep from complaining. She didn't want Jefferson to change his mind and send her home, partly because she wasn't sure if she would be able to find her way back if he did.

"What are you talking about?" Jefferson replied dully.

"Your plan," She reiterated. "You must have some sort of plan. If the Queen is as powerful as I've heard than I doubt she'll just hand over your hat. Besides, I'm guessing you're not exactly her favorite person, seeing how she turned you into a frog and everything."

Jefferson shot a glare at her from over his shoulder. "I'm aware of what happened, must you keep reminding me?" Ana just shrugged, smirking slightly once he was no longer looking. "For your information, I do have a plan. The King will be holding his annual masquerade ball tomorrow, and the entire kingdom will be there, including us. Once the party is in full swing I will slip off and retrieve my hat."

"It's not bad," Ana admitted. "There's just one problem. I doubt they will let us within a mile of the castle dressed the way we are." She was referring mostly to her plain dress, which was covered in stained and torn in a couple of places, and was only getting worse thanks to their incessant hiking. The Tafani's hardly ever spent money on clothing for her, and when they did it was only because ghastly image was starting to reflect poorly on them. It was just as well that she hadn't had a chance to grab any other clothing because the rest of her outfits were in much better condition. Jefferson, on the other hand was dressed relatively nicely, but she knew the Queen was no fool and would recognize him if he went dressed as he was, even with a mask. "Where do plan on finding us clothing worthy of her majesty?"

Jefferson paused and turned to face her. He looked her up and down, as if he were sizing her up. After a moment's pause he said, "I'll figure it out."

* * *

Ana was woken up by the sound of someone knocking on her room door. She groaned and flopped out of bed and on to her feet. After half-heartedly straightening out her rumpled clothes from the previous night she lumbered over to answer the door. She opened it to reveal a bit too much of a young woman on the other side. The girl smiled brightly at her and held out a plate of eggs.

"Granny's special, on the house," she said.

"Thanks," Ana said, taking the platter. She went to shut the door, but faltered as the woman showed no signs of leaving, and instead stood there grinning at her expectantly. "Um, would you like to come in?" She tried hesitantly.

This was clearly what the girl had been waiting for as she didn't wait a minute to come bouncing through the door. "Thank you," she said as she perched herself on the neatly made bed adjacent to Ana's used one. Not sure what to think Ana simply took a seat across from her on her own bed and began eating. "I probably should introduce myself," her guest said. "My name's Ruby, I'm the owner's granddaughter."

"Ana," she replied through a mouthful of eggs. "Wow, these are really good," she complimented, referring to the food.

Ruby laughed. "Thanks, I'll be sure to let Granny know. She's never let me near the kitchen after I set the toaster on fire." Ana chuckled as much as she could while she continued to eat her breakfast. "So what brings you to Storybrooke? We don't really have many visitors around here."

"I noticed," she replied, thinking of the oddly empty check-in record. "I'm just looking for a new place to stay, and this town just kind of called to me."

Ruby seemed to narrow her eyes in suspicion briefly, before returning to her chipper self. However her temporary change in attitude didn't go unnoticed by Ana. "Well we're glad to have you," Ruby said cheerfully. "And if you ever need anything you can usually find me at Granny's Diner down the street."

"Thanks," Ana replied as she stood and walked her to the door. Once she shut it behind her visitor she collapsed back against it. "Well at least it's not the strangest place I've ever been," she mumbled.

* * *

After hours of walking Ana and Jefferson finally arrived in a small village in the shadow of Regina and King Leopold's castle. It was slightly larger than the town Ana had grown up in, but not much.

"Is this your home?" Ana asked Jefferson as they stood on the sidelines of all of the day to day activity that was rushing by them.

Jefferson laughed as though she had said something absurd. "I don't have a home."

Ana frowned, clearly distraught by the thought of not having some place to call home. "Well why not?"

He shrugged. "I guess I've just learned that if you stay in one place for too long you start to get comfortable, and as soon as you're comfortable something always screws that up." Ana watched him in silence, afraid to say something and disturb him. He remained quiet for a couple moments, staring into the distance with a far off look in his eyes, clearly thinking about another time, another place. "Come on," he said once he snapped out of his trance. "It's getting late; we should find a place to stay for the night."

* * *

After her encounter with Ruby that morning Ana had retrieved her things from her car and taken advantage of the hotel's shower before deciding to go and check out the rest of Storybrooke. She had wandered around the streets of the old fashioned town for a while, not failing to notice the odd glances she seemed to be getting, before coming across a small park near the coast. She took up residence on one of the benches and pulled out the beaten up spiral notebook that was one of her only possessions that she was always sure to keep with her, the other being a pen decorated with the images of cartoon frogs.

The notebook had been one of the first things she had acquired when she arrived in this land almost a year ago, the pen following soon after. Since then she had filled it's pages with stories. Most of what the notebook contained was things from her past that she was clinging to, but some of it was filled with dreams and images of things to come.

She watched the people that passed by her as she sat there, some bothering to send an undeserved puzzled look her direction, others too possessed by their own lives to notice her. She ignored their stares however, figuring that such a small town was bound to question an outsider, and instead allowed her imagination to wander. The individuals that went by became the motivation of her madness as she wrote drabbles of those who caught her eye. She was in the middle of one about a wiry man and his dog when the sound of a voice roused her from her work.

"Hi." Ana turned to see that a young boy with a backpack slung over his shoulders, had taken a seat next to her. His gaze was filled with curiosity, but it was much gentler than that of everyone else. The others seemed to hold a fear of the unknown, while this boy simply seemed to want to know anything about everything. "You're new around here aren't you?" He asked.

"Yeah," Ana answered, still not sure what to make of him.

He smiled at slightly as if to ease her discomfort while he said, "My name's Henry."

"Ana."

"Nice to meet you." His welcoming look faded in to one of confusing as he added, "You look kind of familiar. Have you ever been here before?"

"Nope, this is my first time," she replied.

Henry directed his attention to the notebook which she had closed when she noticed he was there. "What were you working on?"

"Just some stories."

His eyes lit up at that. "I love stories, _especially_ fairytales."

Ana chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Me too. But you know that most of what people tell you aren't true. The original stories are much better."

"Trust me, I know," he said with such seriousness that she couldn't help but smile. "I should probably get going; my mom might be getting worried. See you around Ana."

She waved at him as he headed back into the main part of town. Once he had gone she sat back and began to form an idea from her latest bit of inspiration.

* * *

Ana and Jefferson had rented a room at the rickety old inn in the middle of town. The room only had one bed, which Jefferson had given up for her while he took the dingy chair in that sat in the corner, the only other bit of furniture in the room. They had decided to retire relatively quickly, both exhausted from that day's travels. But as Ana lay in that poor excuse for a bed she found herself unable to relax thanks to the fact that she had been unable to grab her night shirt and being unaccustomed to sleeping in the same room as a man.

After she shifted positions for the fifth time in the past minute or so, Jefferson moaned at her from his half-awake state, "Either lay still, or I'll come over there and make you."

"Sorry," she whispered. She remained silent for a couple of moments before giving up and sitting up, inciting a groan from her room partner.

"What is it?" He asked. She could barely make out his features in the darkness but she could imagine the look of annoyance that was no doubt spread across his face.

"I just can't sleep." She felt kind of silly, figuring he was probably thinking of her as a child who was afraid of the dark.

"Well I would sing you a lullaby but it would probably just give you nightmares."

Ana giggled slightly at his jesting. His tone conveyed sarcasm, but it still helped her to relax slightly. "It's just that it's my first night away from home and it's not exactly as glamorous as I expected."

"Sorry to disappoint princess, but I don't exactly hang out in five star hotels," he replied dryly. "If you don't like this, then how come you left your home?"

Ana hesitated, not sure whether she wanted to tell him the truth, but she figured she might as well considering how he had bothered to take her with him. "Because where I come from it isn't much better. My parents died when I was young, and ever since then I've been raised by the Tafinis, a family from a nearby village that heard about my situation. They only got custody of me because they managed to convince our town council that she was my dad's long lost sister. They were merchants who made a living scamming people and they only wanted me because they couldn't have children of their own and they thought I would be good for business. They treated me as if I were some stray animal they had been kind of to take in, and because of that they thought that I should bow down to them. I've dreamed of getting out of there for years and when you came along it was my first chance."

Jefferson was silent for a while after she finished, and for a minute she thought that maybe he had fallen asleep. He spoke up eventually though, and said, "I'm sorry."

She heard the sincerity in his voice, which is why she replied, "You don't need to apologize. If anything I should thank you." She must have made him slightly uncomfortable, for he didn't respond to her comment. The silence hung there for a bit before Ana added, "It is late, and I think I should be able to sleep now." She turned over and threw the covers over herself as if they would cover up her embarrassment. She mumbled a goodnight into the blankets before pinching her eyes shut. She managed to doze off a little while later, and even though she didn't see Jefferson fell asleep with a grin on his face that night.

* * *

After she left the park Ana had gone over to the diner Ruby had mentioned for lunch before heading back to the hotel. She got up to room to see a large book sitting outside of her door. There was a note sitting on top of it that simply read _For Ana._ She picked up the over sized brown book and ran her fingers over the gold letters that were etched in the cover.

_Once Upon a Time._


End file.
